


Someone played this song in my dreams

by PumpkinFabliaux



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Car Accidents, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Memory Loss, Secret Yearning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-25
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-10 07:47:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27709976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PumpkinFabliaux/pseuds/PumpkinFabliaux
Summary: Following strange circumstances, Noctis survives a car crash and loses his memory. He doesn’t seem to recognize his father’s face or his girlfriend’s voice.Searching clues from his own forgotten past, Noctis also comes to the realization he has been madly in love with his best friend, in secret, for years.Prompto has a thing or to two to say about that.
Relationships: Prompto Argentum/Noctis Lucis Caelum
Comments: 33
Kudos: 47





	1. Chapter 1

**Chapter I.**

It was 7:49 on an ordinary Saturday when the phone rang. Prompto tried to cover his ears with a pillow, but the caller was so insistent that he decided to actually consider the option of getting up. Next to him was Cindy, exhausted. She mumbled something, turned around and continued to sleep soundly. They had gotten a little too drunk the night before at Cid's stupid family dinner. It took Prompto a superhuman effort to get out of bed, but whoever was calling evidently had their reasons for waking him up at such an early hour. The boy stumbled his way to the dressing table, lifted a leather jacket and found the old cell among a pile of random crap. The screen light hit him in the face like a punch. Squinting, he saw Ignis' number and the picture of a fat Chocobo wearing a pair of Ray-bans, and immediately frowned. Prom tried to remember if he had agreed to meet with the boys, but nothing came to his head. After a few seconds, he finally picked up.

“Dude, what's going on? It's seven in the fucking morning”.

“Get dressed as fast as you can and come to the Wingrave Hospital, in Lestallum”.

Ignis’ voice sounded cold enough to wipe the last signs of alcohol out of his hungover mind.

“For the love of Shiva, what happened?”.

“It's Noctis... he was in a car accident last night... we'll explain later. Come soon”.

The call ended. 

Prompto’s throat went dry. Suddenly, the prospect of going back to bed made him recoil in horror. Ten thousand ugly things went through his mind in a split second. His best friend, lying in the middle of the road, like a deer that ventured too far. A crash, miles away from home. Regis, who would never forgive himself. The blonde’s hands were shaking and although he had to get his shit together and go to Lestallum as soon as possible, he stood quietly in the dark, holding his breath. Noctis was one of the most important people in his life. They had grown up together and lived through countless experiences. Prompto’s small room was filled with very few valuable photographs and memories; all of them involved the lonely, brooding kid who enjoyed fishing and petting stray dogs in the street. They were, to say the least, inseparable. One was half of the other, and vice versa. Prompto held the phone tightly until his fingers went numb, and in the blink of an eye he threw a T-shirt over his shoulders, grabbed the same leather jacket he had stained with wine and grease the night before, and ran to the door of his apartment.

He stopped there for a moment and thought that perhaps the most diplomatic thing to do was to leave a note for Cindy with an explanation regarding his absence, but there was no time to waste on trivialities. Nothing in the universe was more urgent, in that fateful minute, than meeting his friend. Maybe for the last time.

* * *

There was, luckily, an empty cab parked in front of his building. He got in without even noticing that he was wearing a pair of tattered sleeping pants, and gave the driver a couple of clumsy indications. The car began to move and Prompto couldn't sit still. His temples were sweating and his heart was racing. He was dying to call Ignis, or even Regis himself, but decided to be cautious. At times like that he hated the fact that he had given up cigarettes. Those were the best ally for his episodes of depression.

It took the driver 15 minutes to get him to the hospital gates. The boy threw some giles at the stranger’s lap and ran to the reception. Ignis was there, rubbing his temples. The two looked at each other and Prompto felt a chill run down his back. His friend's face had a pale undertone; his mouth was contracted in a worried grimace. Prompto walked towards him, fearful. 

He only managed to say, “Where is he?”.

“Intensive care unit”, the other replied. “He’s been there for hours. The police found a broken-down Regalia after someone made an emergency call during the night. He was driving north. Luna told everyone he had stayed all day holding meetings with some lawyers from Niflheim Corp., so she obviously guessed he was going to sleep in his father’s place. According to the officers’ report, Noct may have seen something on the road, an animal probably, and tried to stop the vehicle. He was hit by someone coming up behind him. The culprit ran away…”.

Prompto bit his lip, and cursed.

“Ignis, tell me the whole truth, I beg you… is he going to be alright?”.

“The doctors haven't given us any reassurance”, he admitted. “We must be prepared for any outcome”.

“Don’t ask me to do that...”, Prom begged. To Ignis, to the Astrals. 

“We can't see Noctis, but come on, the others must be wondering about you”.

* * *

In the waiting room were Luna, Gladio and some of Regis's closest colleagues. Noctis' father was on a flight from Tenebrae. He had been told only part of the story. They feared that the impact of such news would affect his already ailing nerves. When Prompto appeared, everyone stood up and Lunafreya was the first to speak to him.

“Prom…”, she tried to call him, but her voice broke.

“Shhh, don't cry, everything will be fine”, he whispered. It was like comforting a toddler after a nightmare. He grabbed Luna by the waist and pressed her against his chest. The beautiful girl had been engaged to Noctis for a few months. They had plans for a late fall wedding.

“What am I supposed to do without him, Prom?”, a small voice asked, seeking for mutual understanding in the face of someone who also loved Noctis, with infinite intensity.

“Hey, don't lose hope”, Gladio rushed in, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Noct is a strong kid. He’ll get through this, you'll see”.

Luna couldn’t stop sobbing and Prompto clung to her with equal despair. Gladio went back and forth, from one corner to another, and Ignis simply waited in silence. Eventually, he would answer short video calls from the employees at Caelum Industries, giving all kinds of explanations and trying to distract himself from the whole thing. There were other families in the room and Prompto tried to cheer himself up, thinking that he wasn’t the only one suffering. An old vending machine next to the bathroom called his attention, and Prom conceded. He was embarrassed by his lack of will, and yet, he bought the only pack of cigarettes left. Noct would be definitely pissed if he knew. Prompto smiled to himself; he secretly enjoyed being scolded for not resisting such a nasty habit. Well, he kinda cherished all things that came from Noctis. Even his disappointment.

“Gladio, can I borrow your lighter?”.

The big guy looked at him sideways, surprised.

“I thought you'd given up that shit, man”.

“Don't lecture me, I have a terrible migraine and if I don't get some nicotine in my system I'm going to burst”.

At that moment the doors of the operating room opened and Prompto forgot whatever was on his mind. The doctor’s expression seemed pretty somber at first, but when Luna approached him, he noticed that the man made one of those universal gestures frequently used to convince people that all is not lost. The Astrals had been merciful, at least.

“I presume you’re all friends and relatives of Mr. Caelum, is that right?”.

“Be straightforward with it, or you will unleash an event of mass hysteria”, Ignis warned, clever as always.

“The patient is out of danger”.

Prompto fell to his knees and closed his eyes tightly, trying to hold back his tears. 

“When could we...?”

“Unfortunately, I also have sad news…”, the man in the white robe interrupted them, “...the impact was considerably serious and there was brain damage. Basic functions are not compromised and after a period of rehabilitation he will be able to resume his life normally. But I'm afraid to tell you that he does not remember anything, any event prior to the accident”.

“What? He lost his memory?”, Gladio shouted, basically mirroring everyone’s shock.

“Is it a permanent condition?” Ignis added, fearful.

“Post-traumatic amnesia is common, you see, and although there have been multiple cases where the patient completely recovers, I cannot guarantee that Mr. Caelum will remember who he is or how he got here anytime soon. It depends on several factors, including…”.

“Let me see him now, maybe…”, Luna pleaded, but the physician raised a hand, trying to calm her down.

“I'm going to ask you all to be very careful when you talk to the patient. Don't put the boy in a situation that might cause him more stress than he's already suffering. You have to give him time to get used to your faces, your voices. Avoid asking him questions that might confuse him even more”.

Prompto felt his cell phone vibrating in his pocket. It was Cindy. He sighed, the least he wanted to do was start explaining this crazy situation to someone else. He couldn’t believe half of it. His chest hurt like hell. He chose to make a concise summary of the whole tragedy and sent her a text message. It was not the most polite alternative, but in those circumstances, Prompto had zero energy to be talkative to his girlfriend.

“Noctis’ father is on his way”, Gladiolus explained to the doctor.

“Perfect. I'll clear the room, see that everything is set up and then I’ll let you in slowly. Please follow my recommendations and above all, have faith. This is a terrible inconvenience, for sure, but the boy survived and, right now, that's what matters the most”.

* * *

The doctor left and everyone sat down again, waiting for the nurses to authorize them to come into the room. Ravus, Luna's brother, showed up at that moment, dishevelled and wearing his dull office suit. Attention shifted momentarily to the newcomer. Luna described him even the tiniest details of the story and Prompto seized the opportunity to acknowledge some facts that Ignis had left out at first, because of nerves and confusion.

“Where the hell was Noctis going at that hour, in such a hurry?”, Ravus questioned, “Didn't he tell you about any emergency?”.

“He has been acting strange for days”, Luna confessed, somewhat coldly. Prompto had the guilty impression that this last remark was not exactly meant to be publicly divulged, and he feigned to be quite interested in the hospital’s colorless wallpaper. It was a delicate piece of information, judging by Luna's body language and tone. He was embarrassed to see how much he wanted to hear the rest, no matter how inadequate that attitude was.

“What are you talking about?”.

“Don’t make me think about that, Ravus, I'm fucking tired right now”, she implored him, and looked away. There was some underlying emotion seeping through the cracks of her distant demeanor towards her brother. Luna was hiding pieces of pain that had nothing to do with Noctis’ accident, and everything to do with it at the same time. “We had a lot of fights about it and he swore to me that it was nothing, that I was worrying in vain”. 

“Do you think his erratic behavior is related to the rush he was in to get somewhere, last night?”.

“Ravus, I’m not in the mood for this conversation right now, you don't understand”, she complained. “I swear, sometimes I feel like Prompto is the only one who really knows him”.

Prompto's heart made a weird flip, inexplicably. He blamed it on the whirlwind of emotions in his head.

He couldn’t think about it much. An elderly nurse finally invited them into the room where they were treating Noctis, and that pushed Prompto again to the furthest edge of emotional exertion.

The first ones to run into his broken, sleepy form were Luna and Ignis. Ravus took a seat in the back, pretending to be a ghost and sparing Noctis a few inscrutable glances. Regis’ comrades preferred to stay outside and give the boy a break. 

Prompto stood in the doorway, breathless. He wanted to move forward, but his feet were stuck to the floor. He simultaneously needed to scream of happiness, to cry, to do anything except for staring at Noctis like he had come back from the dead, which was not entirely a lie, somehow. There, in front of him, was his childhood friend. His dearest everything. Noctis was a shadow of himself, covered in bloodied bandages. His eyes wouldn’t stay in the same spot for more than a few seconds, as if he was searching for something. He was bruised in every single way, yes, but alive.

Luna kissed him softly on the lips and whispered loving words to his ear that no one had a chance to understand. Noctis’ reaction to her advances was, or at least seemed, pretty distant, almost as if he were uncomfortable. He didn't push her away at first, but his touches were far from affectionate or warm. Every time she made a question, or a remark, he would simply shrug or nod. The expression on his face was a mystery. Ignis patted him on the shoulder and Gladio gently ruffled his bluish locks. He still wouldn’t speak to any of them. It was a sad spectacle.

Then, Noctis' eyes met Prompto’s, and it was the oblivious boy’s turn to freeze.

For a moment, the room felt empty. Prompto had the strength, then, to go forward. His legs drove him on their own. 

Noctis carefully moved away from Luna, without taking his eyes off his best friend. No one dared to stop him, even though all were in the same state of astonishment and disbelief. Sore and clumsy, the boy crawled on his knees to the edge of the bed, and reached out. Prompto knew what that meant. Among the two of them, always, words were out of place.

The blond kid grabbed him quickly by the waist and held him tightly in his arms. The air finally returned to his lungs. He sighed, and rested his chin on Noctis’ shoulder. The world stopped spinning. Noctis hugged him like a sailor would hug a floating piece of wood in the middle of a shipwreck. Prompto knew that he was holding back his tears in vain. He had never experienced emotions this deep, this clear. 

He was terrified of the answer, and yet he asked.

“Do you recognize me?”.

Noctis’ body tensed for a moment, then he relaxed until both were almost floating.

“No…”, he said, and the others looked at them, grieving. Luna's face had gotten paler, and even more defeated than before. Something had died inside her at that moment, but she remained still, giving no visible signs of distress.

“...but for some strange reason,” Noctis admitted, from the bottom of his heart, so quietly that perhaps only Prompto could hear him, “I was dreaming about you”.

  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter II.**

Prompto’s chest is heavy as if one of those monsters featured in the comics he loves, an Iron Giant, had just stomped on it. For a second, the young photographer wants to crawl out of his body. To scream and giggle like a child because, somehow, Noctis remembered _his dumb face_. He could not believe it; even Regis —who was certainly the most important person in his friend’s life— had disappeared from the brunette’s memory, but the smallest part of Prompto had stayed back. It was the most awesome thing ever and he wanted to cherish it dearly until his last moment on the planet. He was about to crunch the other man’s ribs by snuggling with him so tightly and, holy Shiva, he was absolutely hoping no one could read all the emotions he was pouring into that embrace. _Love. Faith. Relief_. Instead of complaining about the staggering intensity of Prompto’s grip ( _like he probably would have in normal circumstances, right?_ ), Noct had clung to him with a force that could take down a hundred Catoblepas at once.

Everyone in the room kept quiet, as if they had agreed not to spoil the atmosphere of close intimacy between the two friends. Then, Noctis begins to tremble. He’s about to lose it and the blond has no idea how to control himself so as not to make the situation even worse. Neither of them has the energy to turn away; they just cry in each other’s arms, ignoring the hurtful stares coming from Luna. They look like two stray adventurers trying to find a beacon in the distance. To the people involved in the scene, however, it’s plainly obvious the _light_ those two idiots are searching for has permanently been there, in front of them. How do they fail to see it? No one really had a clue.

The barriers fall apart and suddenly there are more arms around their bodies, more stars filling the endless void around them. Ignis, Gladio, Luna. Even Ravus can’t resist the pull, and comes over. Noct brings his face closer to Prompto’s and his two foreheads come together; the blonde sighs and there is nothing else in his field of vision than a pair of beautiful, broken blue eyes. And he swears, for an instant, that there’s something behind that intent expression; Noct’s old voice, calling out for him. His mouth is dry. The cheerful boy is running out of air, and excuses. Luckily, big brother Gladio is sobbing and hiccupping so loud that he drowned the echo of Prom’s unceremonious groan when Noctis finally pulled away. Their cold hands were firmly intertwined, still.

He knows, for sure, that Noct is hurting. Physically and spiritually, the Caelum heir is a total mess. _A gorgeous one, you see_. Therefore, Prom can’t help but feeling miserable as well, and utterly lost. It has always been like this between the two of them. If one crashes, the other burns. They got joined at the hip since that day in middle school when Prompto rescued an injured kitten from the sewers and Noctis offered to foster it for the weekend. His chubby, adorable face had lit when the brunette introduced himself. “You may call me Noctis”, he had said, nonchalantly, as if befriending the class misfit hadn’t been the most extraordinary event of the school year. _Of their lives_. Prompto was 100% convinced he had fallen deeply from that very first encounter. Theirs was the purest of connections, Iggy once had told him, and no one ever doubted the crashing reality of that observation. Both males would truly understand what motivated or drove the other, for they were two extensions of the same soul. As children, they used to share every single secret, particularly if there was a huge risk of getting scolded by the adults. “You promise not to tell anyone?”. “Of course, Noct. Trust me”. And so, he did. Prompto would never hide something from his dearest friend, and vice versa. Well, in any case, the only things he kept to himself were far too complex to be spoken out loud. At the age of nine, he had wondered if there was something wrong with the way he acted around that kid: _I just like him a lot, there's nothing to be worried about. He’s my best buddy_. But at seventeen, his heart rebelled against that lie. _Astrals, I adore him so much. What’s happening to me? I want his lips on mine. I want Noctis to look at me differently. This is wrong._ It hadn’t been easy, at all, to look in the mirror on a December night and admit the unpleasant truth.

_I’m in love with him._

For years, Prom succeeded in making his deepest affections go unnoticed. Some days though, when he was feeling a little bit braver, he would softly brush his fingers against Noctis’ skin and make it seem like it had been a “momentary, unimportant accident”. That happened too often; not a day went by without Prompto stealing brief touches and innocent glances when his best friend was distracted and he _begged_ Ramuh for his voice not to give him away whenever Noctis mussed his hair playfully; because no moment is devoid of meaning for those who yearn in silence. It would only take the smallest sign of proximity for his hormones to go wild. Oh, how treacherous is the path of desire. Sometimes, _and these memories are in some way blurrier than the rest_ , Prompto could’ve sworn that Noctis’ hand had lingered for a second too long on his shoulder; that his eyes had shined too brightly while gazing at him. Maybe it had just been his foolish, optimistic heart, scheming tricks to heal itself.

Now, long after graduating and building a semblance of adulthood to themselves, the past had been violently stolen from Noctis and his friend would try, passionately, to rescue it back. And the first step to recover what was gone, then, implied acknowledging certain truths. While sitting in that lumpy hospital bed, Prompto recalled that he had been, once, an awkward, gangly ( _he had worked hard to get there_ ), overly enthusiastic nerd who would keep a thousand photographs of his “brooding bestie”, as he had dubbed Noctis, much to his chagrin, inside a drawer. And that infatuated, hopeful boy had never abandoned him, —at least, not completely—. There had been a time when the mere presence of the Caelum kid would snatch his breath away. And if thanks to some cosmic miracle, Noct were to pay him a silly compliment like: “Dude, you’re so good at Mario Kart”, or “That King’s Knight hoodie looks great on you”, he would get covered in sweat and fidget his feet like some idiot pining after their platonic crush.

However, some teenage fantasies, no matter how deeply one craves for them to become a real thing, end up eventually forgotten and tossed aside. That’s how life works. People don’t get that special someone to magically fall for them just by listening to AFI’s “Love Like Winter” ninety-seven times in a row ( _we all have an eyeliner phase, ok?_ ). Prompto had moved on already, or at least he had spent a decade gaslighting himself in order to believe so, pretty hard. When Luna showed up, one fateful day, with her delicate curves and long eyelashes, the boy with prominent freckles knew his soul was being cruelly torn apart. All those terrible feelings that had taken years to be buried deep emerged, without warning, and combusted, stronger than ever. It had been, specifically during the first months, a huge deal for Prompto to tolerate her presence, and his lungs would stop functioning at the slightest display of affection between Noctis and her. He prayed for Leviathan to creep out of the ocean and swallow that girl. When Noct confessed one afternoon, while they were skating in the park, that she had given him a mindless peck on the lips ( _it was meant to happen at some point, lamentably_ ), Prom wanted to punch a wall until his knuckles bled. Over time, he simply learned to accept the inevitable defeat, and one could say he even started “enjoying” Luna’s company, to a certain extent. But a tragedy on the highway had been enough to make his determination crumble. There he was, holding Noctis so closely he could actually measure his heartbeats. And his body screamed: _Can’t you see?_ _You could have lost him, for real. Don’t march away from this battle, coward. Face your horrors. Tell him before it’s too late._

* * *

After his friends comforted him for almost an hour, a task which left them all weary and depressed, Noct asked his visitors to quickly summarize his life, typical behaviors and routine prior to the critical accident from the night before. Ignis ventured forward and made a pretty decent job at giving his amnesiac friend a short tour around his own identity. Basically, he introduced Noct to small bits and details about himself, but carefully avoided those subjects that could have been harmful or confusing, such as “your mother, Aulea, was mentally unstable and killed herself a few years after you were born”, or “you have an alcoholic uncle in prison who betrayed your father for money”. His mind was a blank board and the doctor had warned them against filling it up with unnecessary information, at least for the moment. The concept of _them as a family_ had to come up subtly and naturally; only Luna had been more or less allowed to try and make small advances at breaching Noctis’ fence around his emotions. But he spoke little about his own pain.

He was told once more, very succinctly, about the crash. It came easier then, from the mouths of people who actually cared, in a personal way, for him. Dr. Aldercapt was a nice, even-tempered man, but it was his _professional duty_ to treat him with gentleness, not his choice. Many inconsequential parts of the story were skipped over as previously recommended by the physician, but Noctis immediately understood, by their pitiful reactions every time he admitted: “No, I can’t remember that. No, I don’t know who you are”, that the few strangers littered in the room meant more to him than regular friends would. They genuinely looked worried about his condition and behave kindly around each other. For Noct, those were characters from a tale he was beginning to read, not old acquaintances.

It’s not a normal process for a human being to be taught, by someone else, who they are, or who they were before, for this is a truth that’s supposed to be engraved in one’s soul. You simply know the episodes and fragments that make up your past; you don’t learn them second-handedly. However, some people spend their whole lives trying to understand who they are, and where they’re going, to no avail. Noctis feared he would become one of those mediocre actors that are repetitively portraying shallow versions of themselves. But in the wasteland of his chest, there was a spark of color. Right before succumbing to the abyss, he had clutched that last thread of light, named _Prompto_. The amnesiac boy was weirdly grateful that he hadn’t imagined the blonde; that he wasn’t just a beautiful vision he had summoned up in the darkness, to endure the agony of oblivion. He had been robbed, yes, but one memory inside his soul had been too stubborn to leave.

And this incredibly handsome man in front of Noctis, who was probably a gift from the Astrals, had been respectful enough not to probe and inspect the confusing thoughts that plagued his wrecked mind. Even though _he_ was the only thing that occupied them, since the moment Noctis metaphorically came back from the dead. While the others relentlessly insisted in making the same questions over and over again ( _they were eager to find a crack in the wall, but Noct was starting to feel increasingly tired of repeating he was as scared and confused as everyone else in the room_ ), Prompto ( _that was his name, and Noctis simply loved it, for no apparent reason_ ) had basically sheltered him in his arms. It was the most compassionate, understanding option he had been given that morning. And when the blonde with the speckled cheeks timidly whispered: “Does it hurt too much?”, he had wanted to cry some more because _yes, yes, it hurts like hell not knowing who you are or why your voice keeps making my heart flutter like a trapped bird_.

The dream he had minutes before waking up to this new, frightening world, was still fresh in his head. Oh, how we craved some answers for what he had seen; but those weren’t the ideal circumstances to approach that topic. Indeed, it would have been unfair to collectively discuss something that concerned only him and Prompto. The others were extremely attentive to every single one of Noctis’ gestures and words, and after all the stitches, the bruises, the painkillers, he just wanted someone who would listen, silently, without examining his movements as if he were about to collapse anytime soon. Prompto seemed perfectly ok with the idea of making him some quiet company. He hadn’t said much since Noct blurted the groundbreaking line: _I was dreaming about you_. Noctis found himself wishing the others would leave the two of them alone for a second, so he could address the matter far from the inquisitive eyes of so many people.

The brunette knew that at some point he would also have to speak about _certain things_ with the woman who claimed to be his fiancée. Luna seemed profoundly devoted to him, and there was no denying she loved Noctis for real, judging from her devastated expression every time he looked at her without an ounce of recognition. She had been the first person he saw after waking up. Luna had kissed his cold lips with such urgency that he immediately assumed she was _the one_ ; the person for whom he had fought, with every fiber, to come back. However, when met the girl’s eyes, searching for that mutual sense of belonging, he felt lonely. Something was amiss between them, and Noct made a huge effort to treat her with some sort of _virtuous gallantry_ , even if the affection was coming from a place of compassion, not from genuine emotions such as love or nostalgia. He had guessed it was absolutely logical to feel that way regarding Luna. Noctis would eventually reciprocate her attentions, right? But then the doctor had called for the other visitors that were waiting for him outside, and a strikingly beautiful boy with greyish pupils and a smile that could rival the sun had appeared at the door, and his brain short-circuited.

Prompto had acted so shyly at first. It had been, without a single doubt, the most endearing ( _and silly_ ) reaction anyone could’ve displayed. When Noct examined his face and realized this was the person who had occupied his feverish dreams, that was it. _Look at me,_ Noctis had implored, without opening his mouth, _whoever you are. Please, let me touch you. I know this feeling; we’ve been like this before. That was you, in my mind; it has always been you._ And the blonde almost ran to meet his friend. They held each other and it was wonderful, perfect, like something that was meant to happen in every single universe, since the fucking dawn of time. Noct had wept in his arms like a lost child, but not because of the painful injuries all over his body. That sucked too, yes, but Noctis cried because there were no words to describe how absolutely _happy and relieved_ he felt in that instant.

Prompto caught his friend staring, and blushed for the umpteenth time. Noctis had gripped the other boy’s hand without noticing, and now his pulse was doing that weird and casual flip _again_.

“Hey, it’s fine, Noct, I’m not going anywhere”, he whispered, cupping the brunette’s achingly stunning face. “None of us is leaving. Rest assured that when we find the awful people who left you stranded on the road, they’re gonna get injured pretty badly... like that PS4 joystick Ravus threw out the window because I kicked his butt in Justice Monsters Five. My good fellow up here would try to convince you it was the other way around, he’s a sore loser…”.

“Shut up, Prompto, just shut the fuck up…”, the white-haired man garbled.

“Ravus has anger management issues, but trust me, he’s even more frightening after his sexy bum gets handed down to him in a golden plate”.

Luna snorted. Iggy rolled his eyes, humored.

“I can tell you’re the coolest guy in the team…”, Noct pointed out, coquettishly.

Blondie almost chokes. Was his favorite person in the world _flattering_ him? “Hell yeah. I intimidate others without even trying. Dr. Aldercapt suggested I should take some medicine to tone down my badass vibes”.

“Prompto, you’re scared of flying cockroaches, who are you trying to impress here?” Gladio teased him, attempting to drown his own sadness beneath the blonde’s contagious mood.

“Man, can’t you see we’re having a moment here?”, Prompto scolded him, mumbling an insult between his teeth. “Besides, don’t pretend you won’t be _super_ into developing twisted ways to get rid of the bodies, for Ifrit’s sake. We all know you have a bizarre fascination with Hannibal Lecter. Oh babe, those assholes won't even know what hit 'em”.

“Umm… our interactions are always _like this_? Just what have I gotten myself into?”, Noctis joked, watching their banter with a grimace of mocked horror.

“It's not the first time you’ve made that observation” Luna said, holding back her tears of joy at seeing Noctis smile again. “And I guarantee that it won’t be the last”.

The tension was beginning to recede and Noctis actually looked forward to be around his friends some more. A few minutes later, the doctor re-entered the room and carefully surveyed the young man’s wounds. He was given strong anesthetics for his headache, and Prompto implied that his friend might had been putting on a show to be legally “getting high with the best stuff”. The doctor didn’t think it was funny but Noctis’ chuckles proved otherwise. That glorious sound made Prom’s insides swarm with predatory butterflies. Wow, he needed more of those cigarettes, and fresh air ( _he failed to notice those two demands were at odds with each other, but that was typical of him_ ). Anyways, a bit of nicotine wouldn’t do much harm; he could always work out harder to make up for the recent slip in his ultra-healthy and carefully scheduled fitness program ( _thanks Gladio, for the tips and instructions no one asked for_ ).

Luna was unusually quiet, except when Noctis directly asked something from her. She seemed in a state of permanent alarm, and her eyes were too difficult to read under the hospital bulbs. When Prompto got up so the medical practitioners could do their work properly, the girl firmly stood between him and the bed, like a jealous guardian. Finally, she managed to squeeze past the nurses and lie down next to her boyfriend. Noct began to slowly nod off until he passed out completely. Her silvery hair was cascading down and shrouding Noctis’s chest. _A cursed prince and his brokenhearted princess_ , Prompto sourly thought. They looked perfect together, and the image was too cruel to stare at. He had to get out from that room, because now that the spell was finally broken, he felt disgusted of his egoism, even guilty for concealing so much hope, so much possessiveness over someone that belonged to _a friend_. Because, yes, Luna had become his friend as well, and Prom was betraying her kindness every time he touched Noctis. She hadn’t done anything to deserve his cruelty; it wasn’t her fault that Prompto happened to love the same person she would marry one day. No, those deep, unrequited feelings needed to be washed away, for everyone’s sake. His limbs felt cold in the absence of Noctis, but that was ok. Cold leads to numbness, and he would live with that.

To make matters worse, he couldn’t stop wondering why in heavens Noctis had remembered his face, and not hers. _I was dreaming about you_. What the hell was that supposed to mean? Prompto had dreamed about him as well, oh so many times during his short and miserable life. Some of these were just altered memories, but he would also recreate hidden fantasies and improbable scenarios that could never be. Two stupid, carefree teenagers running in the rain, laughing like they have nothing to be afraid of. Noctis would take him to the winter ball at school, and they would spin around and dance under a thousand neon lights. Gladio would let “his two irresponsible kids” taste some pungent liquor he had snuck into the party and after a few shots Prompto would have the courage to kiss his lover, like in the movies when the hero finally makes a crazy decision and saves the world; later the end credits roll and the audience freaks out. But in this sad case, Prom would open his eyes and that awesome parallel universe would be forever gone. He would be drenched in sweat thanks to the gross summer weather in Hammerhead, at the motel, and Cindy would be snoring beside him, unaware of his ragged breaths and frantic heartbeats. She would always ask him in the morning why he was taking a shower at 4:00 AM, and her boyfriend would shrug as if that wasn’t a big deal, and focus on the distant landscape through the glass windows of Takka’s Pit Stop. It was a good thing that Cindy never noticed he spent many nights wide awake, sitting in the balcony of their crappy apartment, looking at the stars above him and wondering if Noctis would ever have visions about a different life, in another world, with him.

* * *

Noctis was under the effect of multiple sedatives and Dr. Aldercapt warned them he would be sleeping for a couple of hours. Iggy, Gladio and Prompto found an opportunity to discuss some pressing matters: specifically, how they were going to deal with Regis. The old man had called Cor as soon as he got off the plane and, well, it hadn’t been easy to calm him down. Mr. Leonis decided to tell him the truth in the most concise way possible, and it was a complete disaster. Obviously, Regis was fuming. He yelled, like a wounded animal, and demanded to know everything, no more lies or omissions, even when Cor insisted over and over again that Noctis was out of danger. Gladio offered to drive him from the airport and Ignis assured everyone that he was going take care of all business-related errands, provisionally.

Prompto felt the nerves pulling at him again and went outside to have a smoke. He grabbed his phone to check the time and saw ten missed calls from Cindy flashing in the screen. Yeah, he definitely needed to have a chat with his girlfriend, no matter how tired to the bones he was. It was plainly wrong to keep ignoring her, even if Prompto himself was a chaos inside and had no fucking idea of how he was supposed to deal with his own shit. A sentiment of guilt was beginning to nag at him, and so he dialed Cindy’s number.

When he heard the girl’s flowery voice on the other side of the call, he was momentarily speechless. _This is the person you’re supposed to be faithful to, and here we are._ Prompto wanted to hang up, to escape as far as possible from her, from his own demons. And so, he mumbled: “I’m sorry”, because that was the truth, above everything. “Fuck, Prom, you could’ve called before. I haven’t been able to sleep since you left”, she confessed, and he sunk even deeper in the mud. He sighed. “Cindy, this has been the worst morning ever and frankly, I’m exhausted. Noctis is fine, he already woke up… but…”. _And now he won’t stop looking at me like I’m his whole world and it’s driving me crazy and I’ve wanted to kiss him hard since the moment we were told he was alive._ Prompto thought about the possibility of blurting it all out, but his throat just closed and suddenly he wasn’t holding back the tears anymore. “Baby, what happened?”, she insisted. “Prompto, hello, are you still there? Hon, don’t leave me like this, let’s talk”. The grey-eyed boy began to sob uncontrollably; when he found the strength to open his mouth, all the sadness that had been momentarily healed returned to his mind and he allowed it to flow freely. “Cindy, he was diagnosed amnesia”, he announced, barely forming the words. “He can’t remember anyone, not even Luna”. _But somehow, he dreamed about me_ , Prom almost said, but he kept it to himself in the last moment. No, he couldn’t afford self-pity.

For a second the girl stopped talking, and her boyfriend simply cried, despairingly, sitting on a wet bench outside the hospital. He could still listen to the girl’s slow breathing, next to his ear, and that’s the only reason that kept him from hanging up. “Damn it, Prom”, she said, at last. “I’m so, so sorry babe. I know how much he means to you”. _No, Cindy, you’re wrong. No one knows how deeply I care for Noctis, not even him. I wasn’t aware of how much I still loved him, until the very moment his life was about to slip away from between my fingers. Until I felt the horror of not being able to see him ever again_. Rage and impotence were clouding his judgment; and he was glad Cindy wasn’t making too many questions. “Do you want me to grab a taxi and go meet you there? It’s only 15 minutes, I’ll call the workshop and tell the guys something awful came up in the family. That your _brother_ almost died last night”. Prompto had to bite his lower lip or else he would correct Cindy in the worst possible manner. No, you don’t feel the aching need to pin your brother against a wall so you can eat him alive. You don’t stare at your brother’s lips and squirm. It would be super fucked up if your heart were to burst out of your chest just because your brother, among all possible things, remembered your face, on the verge of death. “It’s ok”, he ended up saying, “You don’t have to come”. When Cindy tried to fight him, he added: “I’m gonna stay here for a few more hours and then I’ll go home to clean myself up. Please, if it’s not too much to ask, could you call for a pizza so I have something to eat for lunch when I’m back?”. She was beginning to form another sentence when Prompto saw a shiny black car approaching from his left, and knew he had to hang up immediately.

Regis had arrived.


End file.
